Hygge
by Windborn
Summary: (Hygge - (Danish) The pleasant, genial, and intimate feeling associated with sitting around a fire in the winter with close friends.) A rare blizzard in Meltokio dredges up painful memories for Zelos. He intends to wait out the weather in solitude, but as always, Lloyd has other ideas.


**Hygge**

_(Danish) T__he pleasant, genial, and intimate feeling associated with sitting around a fire in the winter with close friends._

* * *

Tiny flakes, cold and shining, drifted from the sky to dust the mansion balcony, already thick with snow, with a fine sparkling of diamonds in the light from the doorway. Rare weather, in Meltokio. Zelos hadn't seen such a heavy blanket of winter in many years.

Lucky thing, or he'd have had to move.

He swept a patch of railing clear and leaned on it, staring out across the city-turned-alabaster.

"Hey! What kind of welcome is that?"

"Eh?" He leaned over the railing.

Sheena stood on the stairs of his porch, brushing snow out of her dark ponytail, shaking the rest loose from the furred hood of her coat. She grinned. "Hurry down and let me in. It's freezing! And _someone_ just got snow down my back."

"Heh. Sorry about that. Just a sec." Halfway down the stairs he remembered-welcoming guests in his absence was one of the functions of his butler. But Sheena never knocked, and Sebastian was nowhere in sight when Zelos reached the foyer.

The reason became obvious as soon as he opened the door. Sheena had been joined by Lloyd and Colette, and they stood chatting merrily on his front porch. While he gaped at them, trying to find his voice, Regal strolled around the corner and started up the walk.

"What's all this?" Zelos asked, when Colette paused for breath.

"You busy?" Lloyd said. "We were in the area and thought-well, technically Colette and I were in Sybak, but we ran into Sheena and Regal, and-" He rubbed the back of his neck, oddly uncertain. "Is this a bad time?"

He wasn't being entirely truthful. What was he hiding? The girls were no help-Colette stood pleasantly beaming, and Sheena was holding back laughter. They were up to something.

"Nope, not at all. C'mon in."

"I was about to ask if everyone was lingering on the doorstep for any particular reason," Regal said, joining them.

"No reason," Sheena replied. "Just waiting for this idiot to open the door."

"Who's the idiot? The door's open, sweetheart. I said, 'Come in!'"

Zelos called for Sebastian, who took their coats and asked if they would require refreshments.

Colette, of all people, cheerfully but firmly said no, thank you, they would take care of everything, and sent him on his way with a conspiratorial wink. Chuckling at her fervor, he bowed himself out.

They went to work at once. Colette disappeared into the kitchen; Lloyd headed to the back patio and fetched an armful of firewood; Regal set himself up behind the bar; and Sheena jogged upstairs, returning a few minutes later with an armful of blankets. Nothing was said about their strange behavior. As far as Zelos could tell, no coordination took place. He mostly listened to their companionable chatter, answering only the occasional question from Colette.

"Zelos, where do you keep spices?"

"Hmm?" He had to think-it had been a while since he'd raided the kitchen without Sebastian. "Third cupboard from the window. I think there's a spice rack on the inside of the door."

"Yes, there it is. Thanks!"

What in the _world_-

A pillow thumped him on the head and tumbled down over his face into his hands. "Oof."

"Don't just stand there like a lump," Sheena said, returning with a second load of bedding. "Grab a blanket and get comfortable."

He trailed after her toward the couch. "What is going on here?"

"Nothing's 'going on.' We just dropped by for a visit, that's all."

"Uh-huh. Right."

A soft crackling woke in the hearth, and golden light spread flickering tendrils across the ceiling and cast dancing shadows across the far wall. Lloyd stacked more wood in the grate and slid the screen across the front of the fireplace.

As warmth slowly permeated the parlor, Zelos realized how cold it had been. He tugged a fleece around his shoulders and perched warily on one end of the couch. "What did you do, strip all the beds?"

"Just raided the linen chests."

The lights in the kitchen winked out, and Colette emerged with a large tray of steaming mugs, a plate piled high at the center. "I found cookies. I hope that's okay?" The heavy aroma of chocolate drifted ahead of her.

Regal set aside his drink and hurried to relieve her of the heavy tray. "Here, let me."

"I'm sure it's fine," Zelos said. "I can have more made easily enough."

"Those look great!" Lloyd had stacked the remaining logs beside the fireplace. He snagged a blanket and a cookie, realized he was out of hands, and stuffed the cookie between his teeth so he could take a hot cocoa, too. He settled on an ottoman within easy prodding distance of the fire and set his mug on the hearth.

Regal placed the tray on the coffee table. He took a mug back to the bar, fortified it, and pressed it into Zelos's hands, winking. "You look like you could use it, Chosen," he said. A hint of toasted almond drifted on the chocolate steam.

"Th-thanks." Specks of nutmeg and cinnamon floated on the froth, and he was surprised, tasting it, to find the cocoa slightly bitter. It blended perfectly with the spices in the thick, steaming cream.

"This is amazing, Colette!" Sheena practically melted around her mug. "You have to teach me the recipe."

"Sure. It's really simple." She curled on the far end of the couch, nearest Lloyd, pillows tucked around her and a blanket over her lap.

Regal claimed the armchair furthest from the fire, reflections turning the buttons on his suit coat to liquid gold. A glass of bourbon sat near his hot cocoa, with a small plate of cookies between them.

And they talked-aimlessly, to Zelos's mind. No mention was made of whatever politics or problems had brought them to Meltokio-or Sybak-in the first place. No one touched on the social climate of the recently-reunified world. It was all . . . normal. Companionable.

Stifling.

Their camaraderie circled him like a tight wall; he felt at once claustrophobic and shut out. His head spun.

He interrupted Lloyd's anecdote about Noishe's latest adventures in the heavy snow, excused himself, and retreated to the dining room. Conversation quieted behind him. He ignored the silence, ignored the nagging guilt that rather than taking his sour mood with him, he'd left it behind to grow in his absence.

What did they want from him? Sighing, he leaned against the far corner of the picture window, letting the chill seep into his skin, hoping it would clear his head. Snow, deep and deceptively soft, blanketed the courtyard in memory.

"Staring at it won't make it go away." Sheena joined him, leaning against the mullion. She blew a circle of fog on the glass. After a moment, she asked, "Are you all right?"

She knew the answer, so he didn't reply. "Why are you all here?"

Her nose wrinkled, and she turned toward the window, looking out over the mounds of white. What did it look like to someone who could actually see it? She liked snow, enjoyed the challenge of moving unseen through the monochrome landscape, loved snowball fights and ice sculptures.

What would seeing winter through her eyes be like?

"You should thank Lloyd." She pressed her palm against the glass, which fogged around the edges of her skin.

"For having a party-or whatever this is-in my house?" he asked, incredulous.

"It wasn't coincidence we all showed up here. Though you probably realized that-Lloyd's terrible at being sneaky." She lowered her hand, leaving a hazy print behind that Sebastian would "tsk" over in the morning. "When he heard about the blizzard, he contacted us at once. He thought you might need a distraction. And maybe appreciate the company, with Seles away."

"Oh." No wonder Lloyd didn't explain. Zelos didn't talk about his childhood, or his mother. He didn't need the pity, and any time he touched the memory, it still felt . . . raw. His fingers curled into fists. He had half a mind to walk back into the parlor and tell them all to get the hell out.

But . . . they'd come all this way . . . just because they were worried? About _him_? He swallowed the lump in his throat, but couldn't think of a single thing to say. The air coming off the window suddenly felt very bitter. "I-oh."

Sheena smiled. "Our hot cocoa is getting cold," she said, very gently.

"Yeah . . . " Zelos pressed his own hand to the window. Behind it, the tiny, sparkling flakes still drifted, and the moon, peeking through a break in the clouds, washed the world silver. "Yeah, it is." He took a deep, steadying breath and pushed away from the glass, leaving his own handprint to face next to hers as he followed her back to the parlor.

Lloyd looked up as they returned. "Welcome back," he said, a little strained. "Hey, I'm really sorry we just dropped in out of nowhere. I just-Zelos?"

Ignoring the attempted-and unnecessary-apology, Zelos caught up his abandoned blanket, swept it around his shoulders, and dropped onto the ottoman beside Lloyd.

Sheena passed him his mug, which his chilled fingers wrapped around gratefully, and Regal, amused, slid the plate of cookies into easy reach.

"Thanks. Sorry for the interruption, there, Bud. What happened when the rabbit started chasing Noishe?"

If Zelos's sudden mood swing surprised Lloyd, he didn't show it. "Huh? Oh, well . . . " And he picked up the thread of the story as if it had never been broken.

Without the question of their motives gnawing at him, Zelos let their voices lull him. He leaned against the wall of companionship that seemed to shut him out before, and found it malleable and welcoming. Slowly, the warmth and light of the fire in the hearth melted away icy memories of red snow.

The stories circled around to Colette, whose cheerful voice brightened the winter darkness even better than the fire.

Smiling, Zelos shifted, resting his head on Lloyd's shoulder.

Lloyd poked him. "Hey, you okay?"

"Mmhmm."

"If you need to sleep on someone, Sheena's right there."

"Don't encourage him!"

Zelos chuckled. "Nope. I'm good. Thanks."

Lloyd shrugged, but didn't make him move. "If you say so."

Maybe tomorrow would be buried under his snowy thoughts. Or the next day. Maybe he'd make it through the winter carrying instead a fireplace, blankets, and hot chocolate. Maybe he wouldn't. "I mean it, Lloyd," he murmured. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Lloyd replied, just as quietly, Colette's story covering the exchange. He ruffled Zelos's hair, almost tentatively. "Anytime."

For today, for right now, Zelos didn't mind the weather.


End file.
